Our Lady Star of the Sea Coptic Icon Ceramic Icon Tile Size 6" × 8"

It can be a little disappointing to discover that the devotion to Mary, Star of the Sea originates from a typo. But what a wonderful metaphor for how God can use human error for such good!

The Blessed Mother was first referred to as “Star of the Sea” in the fifth century by St. Jerome. He was dissecting what Mary’s Hebrew name “Miryam” meant. “Miryam” means drop of the sea. St. Jerome translated the meaning in Latin, which is “Stilla Maris.” Later on, his writings were retranslated and “Stilla Maris” became “Stella Maris”: Star of the Sea.

Both translations are rich in theological meaning. First, as drop in the sea, it beautifully captures the impact that Mary’s “yes” had on the salvation of the world. One poor, unimportant Jewish girl’s trust in God was the drop the world needed to be saved. Her yes impacted everything else after it, in a ripple effect similar to a drop in the ocean. On the surface, it may not look like that drop is needed compared to the vast ocean, but it is.

Second, as Star of the Sea, Mary is literally the star that guides us to Jesus. Like the star the Wise Men saw in the sky that stopped where Jesus lay, Mary can be our guiding star, pointing us to where Jesus is. Likewise, she can help to calm the storms of life that rage about us, similar to the literal storms that rock and shake the sea.

Whatever the actual translation, the name of Mary as Star of the Sea stuck throughout the centuries. Quite a devotion to Mary has sprung under this title. Sailors in particular understood the importance of guiding stars. Without the assistance of GPS or even maps, sailors relied solely on the guidance of key stars in the sky to navigate where they were going.

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